Community Match Fund Overview:

The Community Match Fund is a match granting program that is eligible to anyone in a Sustainable CT registered municipality. Any resident, town staff, or other not for profit organization in a registered municipality is eligible to apply for the Community Match Fund.

The program matches $1 to $1 up to $7,500 for a total of $15,000 for projects that align with at least one of the actions outlined in our action roadmap. There are additional funds for climate projects that promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and greenhouse gas reductions, projects determined eligible for this fund can crowdfund up to $15,000 with a $1 to $1 match for a total budget of $30,000. The Community Match Fund is meant to be a low barrier granting program that relies on community buy in and fundraising, there are no formal applications, deadlines, or lengthy reporting processes.  

To learn if a project idea would be eligible through the Community Match Fund:

1. Email [email protected] or [email protected] with your project idea.
2. Meet with the Community Match Fund Program Coordinator over a zoom call to discuss the project in more detail.
3. Once a project is approved, you are matched with our crowdfunding coach through Patronicity who will help build your crowdfunding campaign page.
4. Campaigns can run anywhere from 30-60 days and must be implemented within a year of completing the campaign.  

You can learn more about the Community Match Fund on our webpage at https://sustainablect.org/funding, on this page you can find our full eligibility criteria document. To see some of our past and current projects, you can use this link: Patronicity projects page. 

Eligibility Requirements:

1. Be located in a Sustainable CT registered town (or towns).

Check here to see participating communities. Registering is easy, so if your town isn’t already registered, reach out to [email protected], and we can help you get your town registered.

2. Align with Sustainable CT’s mission and actions of creating equitable, sustainable communities.

See the eligible project examples below to get an idea of possible projects.

3. Have a public benefit and be inclusive to members of your community(ies).

Projects cannot lead to private profit for a specific individual, family, or business.

4. Have a specific and concrete idea with a detailed budget.

Projects must be well-defined and specific. Project budgets can range from several hundred dollars to thousands. There is no minimum project budget size. Your final budget goal should be based on the costs for a specific, defined project, and take into consideration what is feasible for you to crowdfund from your networks.

Please Note:

• Organizational overhead, regular operating expenses and budget allocations for existing staff's time spent on a project are not eligible for match funding.
• Your project budget may not include funds for paying yourself (Ex. no salary).
• Any equipment supplies purchased with funds secured through this program must have an ongoing use associated with your project that continues to provide or further a free public benefit.
• Funds already raised cannot be leveraged toward the match.

5. The Project Leader must be available for a conversation with your city or town’s Sustainable CT Sustainability Team or municipal representative.

Once your project has been approved, our team will connect you to the Sustainable CT Municipal Liaison so that you can discuss opportunities to collaborate.

6. Be your or your group’s only Sustainable CT Community Match Fund project that is actively fundraising.

While there is no limit to the number of projects that you can undertake through the Community Match Fund or to the total number of projects that can be happening in your city or town at any one time, you or your group cannot begin a new project until you have successfully completed the prior fundraising campaign and have begun implementation.

7. Be implemented within 12 months after fundraising

The Community Match Fund is intended to support projects with immediate funding needs, so you should be planning to start work on your project in the near-term after your crowdfunding campaign is complete.

Crowdfunding & Donor Requirements:

The spirit of the Community Match Fund is to support and amplify grassroots efforts that strive to transform their community, neighborhood, and town for the good of all. We have found that crowdfunding is the best way to ensure that projects are responding to their community and have community buy-in for their projects.

To ensure that all projects are responsibly practicing crowdfunding, we have developed donor requirements:

1. We welcome donations at all levels, however any donation that exceeds 35% of your crowdfunding goal will only be matched by Sustainable CT up to the 35% threshold.

Example: If your crowdfunding goal is $7,500 and you receive a donation of $3,000 (40% of goal), Sustainable CT will only match up to $2,625 (35% of goal) of the $3,000 donation.

2. Meet the Sustainable CT minimum crowdfunding donor requirement.

This is your crowdfunding goal (not including Sustainable CT's match) divided by 100. (Ex: your crowdfunding goal is $5,000. $5,000/100=50. You must have at least 50 crowdfunding donations at any level.)

3. While the project leader (individual, group, organization, or municipality) may donate to their own campaign, that donation cannot exceed 20% of the crowdfunding goal.